"Select a novel studied by you where at least one of the principal characters is a young person. Discuss what you consider to be the most important influence in the novel in helping that young person to develop."

Jean-Louise Finch (Scout) is the main character in Harper Lee's "To kill a mockingbird". She is a young girl who matures in the course of the novel. The most important influence in her development is clearly her father, Atticus.

Unlike almost all other adults in Scout's environment, he is not in any way prejudiced against the black population of Maycomb, a small American town in the 1930's in which all the novel's happenings take place. He tries to instill his beliefs of the equality of all people in his daughter and his son, Jem, in many discussions, he for instance states that whenever a white man cheats a black man, the white man is "trash". He is very modest, which is shown in an incident in which he is asked to shoot a mad dog, which he manages to do with one precise shot, yet he never told his children of his great talent for marksmanship, and does not go hunting because he thinks it gives him an unfair advantage over other living things.

The main event of the novel is a trial, in which Atticus is the defendant's lawyer, against a black man who has been falsely accused of raping a white woman. Atticus does his best to prove Tom Robinson's innocence, to a degree where any objective jury would surely have found him not guilty, but it sentences him to death, as it is expected to do by the general populace. Prior to the trial, Scout and Jem are mocked by other children at school, which have been told by their parents that Atticus will defend the offending black man. Simply bearing this, as Atticus tells them to, instead of retaliating it physically, which would have been a much more childlike behaviour, is also a learning experience for them both. Towards the end of the novel, Atticus's belief...

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...﻿In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the small-mindedness of the Maycomb community hiders Maycomb people to truly understand each other. Arthur Radley, also known as Boo, is assigned with negative characteristics without validation by the Maycomb community. As the story unfolds, Scout, the narrator, starts to know more about Boo Radley, Boo transforms from a mysterious and fearful person to the most heroic and sympathetic character in the novel. Scout experiences that hatred and biased will sully her knowledge of human goodness.
Lee uses first person narrative in the novel, which created a limited view of the events in the story. The story begins when Scout is five and ends when she is eight, this gives reader a feeling that we are growing up with Scout. Most of the time, we get descriptions of events from Scout’s point of view, sense of naivety is evoked as we get to experience just as Scout does. Lee’s figurative language shows how Scout, as a child, sees the world. For example, “Calpurnia was something else again. She was all angles and bones; she was near-sighted; she squinted; her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard.”, in this case, how Scout sees Calpurnia. The advantages of having both child’s eye view and adult commentary are they can work as a complement. Scout’s innocence highlights social prejudice, injustice and racism, we see events through her perspective rather than the...

...As people grow in life, they mature and change. In the novel , To Kill a Mockingbird ,by Harper Lee, Scout, the main character, matures as the book continues. Slowly but surely, Scout learns to control her explosive temper, to refrain from fistfights, and to respect Calpurnia, their maid, and to really learn her value to the family. Scout simply changes because she matures, and she also changes because Atticus, her father, asks her to.
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<br>In the early chapters of the book, Scout picks fights at the slightest provocation. One example of this is when Scout beats up Walter Cunningham, one of her classmates, for "not having his lunch", which isn't a very good reason at all. "Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop. You're bigger'n he is,' he said He made me start off on the wrong foot.' Let him go Scout. Why?' He didn't have any lunch,' I said, and explained my involvement in Walter's dietary affairs" (27). Scout is also very mischievous and has a devious mentality towards Calpurnia. She describes Calpurnia as a tyrannical presence, and she does everything she can to get her out of the house. One time Scout does this is when Walter comes over to her house to eat dinner. Scout criticizes Walter for drowning his food in molasses, and Calpurnia scolds Scout. After Walter leaves, Scout asks Atticus to fire Calpurnia, which of course he...

...more than you think. Even though they’re young, they can have a big impact on your life, and you may not even know it! The book I’m going to talk about is, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee. This book is about Scout, a young girl that shows us her life in Maycomb, and the struggles she had to go through. I am going to prove that Scout helps Atticus, Jem, and Boo discover the realities of life and helps them gain a greater understanding of themselves.
Scout helps Atticus discover the realities of life, and gives him a better understanding of himself. First of all, Scout teaches Atticus how to have responsibility for his kids. An example of this is when Atticus says, “Someone’s been after my children. Jem’s hurt. Between here and the schoolhouse. I can’t leave my boy (Lee p.213).”After the incident where Bob Ewell tries to kill Jem and Scout, Atticus realizes that he cannot leave his kids alone, especially in those tough times they are experiencing. She helps him realize that he’s a parent, and there are many responsibilities in being a parent. Secondly, Scout shows Atticus that his kids are more important than anything. An example of this is
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when he says, “If they don’t trust me they won’t trust anybody. Jem and Scout…I won’t have them anymore (p. 273).” Also after Bob Ewell tries to kill them, Atticus knows that he cannot live without Jem and Scout. If Scout is never alive, Atticus would...

...understand more of what is going on around her. For example, she used to think that Atticus couldn’t do anything because he was older and not like the other dads of Maycomb. Scout, however, changes her tune when her and Jem learn that Atticus is the deadest shot in Maycomb County. “When we went home I told Jem we’d really have something to talk about at school on Monday.” (p.130) exemplifies this. Another sign of Scout’s becoming more mature is when she learns to compromise. “If you’ll concede the necessity of going to school, we’ll go on reading every night just as we always have.” (pg.41). She compromised with Atticus that if she’d keep on going to school, he’d keep on reading to her at home.
Scout seems to take the biggest steps in her internal process of maturation towards the end of the book. As the book comes to a close, although never explicitly said, we as the reader see that Scout begins to understand the symbolism of the mockingbird, which does nothing to harm anyone but, “Only sing their hearts out for us.” (p.119). She starts to realize the “mockingbirds” who were all around her, people who did nothing to harm anyone but were nevertheless destroyed the common nature of man, people like Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. Her last and biggest step in maturation is when she steps onto the front porch of the old Radley place with Boo. She has learned that the initial judgment of people is generally wrong. Also, when she steps...

...In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the narrator is a young girl named Jean-Louise Finch, or Scout, as she grows from age six to eight. Scout, being a child, has not yet been jaded by societal views. Therefore, she is still an innocent girl, and it is her innocence that contributes to the story. Furthermore, it allows the reader to see how the innocence and purity of a child can make things happen. Thus, it is important that the narrator, Scout Finch, is a child at the time that the events of the story takes place.
To continue, despite Atticus’ plead for Jem, Scout and Dill (a close friend) to stay back, the three sneaked over to the jail to see what Atticus was doing. When the an angry mob arrived in front of the jail and the three realized that Atticus might be in danger, Jem, Scout and Dill ran up. Scout, being herself, wanted to connect to the group when she saw Mr. Cunningham. Scout was perfectly comfortable trying to engage the one person she recognized in conversation, “Entailments seemed all right for livingroom talk.” (Lee 206). Unlike an adult, she did not realize that this was not the time for idle conversation. However, as a result of her repeated attempts at reminding Mr. Cunningham who she was and how he knew her, his anger and resolve to cause harm softened, and he decided to go home. At Mr. Cunningham’s urging, the mob eventually left realizing that if they were going to lynch Tom they would have to go through the...

...To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, reveals the development of Jem's character throughout the novel. The reader watches Jem undergo a metamorphosis during the three years that the novel spans. Boo Radley, Jem's family, and the Tom Robinson trial, shape Jem into what he becomes by the end of the book.
At the beginning of the novel, Jem was an immature little boy, and was curious about Boo Radley. Because he was a young child, Jem was fascinated with the unknown. Hence the many plots he came up with to try and bring Boo out the Radley house. After Jem met Dill Harris, Dill dared him to touch the side of the Radley house. Despite this, Jem still ran past it every day for school, because of the rumors surrounding Boo. Jem described Boo as being six and a half feet tall, his diet consisted of raw squirrels and cats, and said that he had bloodstained hands. This illustrates Jem's childish imagination. Jem would never show fear in front of Scout, so he ran up and touched the house. From what Jem has heard of Boo, he pieced together a play about the life of Boo. The children act out Boo stabbing his father, being taken to jail, and other events that Boo was rumored to have done. At this point in time, Jem does not have the slightest inclination that in doing this, the children would offend the Radleys. Later on, when the novelty of acting wore off, they decide to try and lure Boo out of his house. They tried and stick a note through...

...Firsthand Experiences
The amount of technology in this world is amazing and where we are in this era is incredible. As technology gets into the minds of children they seem to learn faster than before. It takes minutes for children to understand where adults never really grasp what they hold in their hands. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the knowledge of understanding in her story. Jean Louis Finch “Scout” matures by seeing and hearing events most kids her age do not with the trial of Tom Robinson’s trial revealing that firsthand experience brings knowledge.
Scout grows through her encounter with Dolphus Raymond outside the courthouse during the trial. Before the trial of Tom Robinson Scout has a negative opinion towards him. During the trial Dill becomes sick, so Dill and Scout proceeded outside and came across Dolphus Raymond. Scout and Dill sit at the tree and start talking, Scout narrates this, “As Mr. Dolphus Raymond was an evil man I accepted his invitation reluctantly, but I followed Dill. Somehow, I didn’t think Atticus would like it if we became friendly with Mr. Raymond, and I knew Aunt Alexandra wouldn’t (200-201). Scout is quite ignorant in this quote because she looks down on Mr. Raymond by calling Mr. Raymond a sinful man. She is inconsiderate to Mr. Raymond because she does not know what he is dealing with. The fact Scout says that Atticus would not want her talking to him is amazing because Atticus is compared to a...

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Scouts Views of the World Develops
“Humankind cannot bear very much reality” (quoted by T.S. Eliot). In the book To Kill a Mockingbird Scout faces the reality of the world. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird Lee uses the n-word to demonstrate how Scout’s view of the world develops.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird in the very beginning of the book the n-word is used innocently. For example, when Dill, Scout, and Jem are walking together they are talking about the hot steam. Jem tells Dill how to avoid the hot steam then Scout says, “’ Don’t [Dill] believe a word he says, Dill’ [Scout] sa[ys] ‘Calpurnia says that’s [black people] talk…. let’s [go] role [down the hill] in the tire’” (Lee 37). Scout says the n-word innocently because she is repeating the n-word from what Calpurnia says. Another example is when Jem and Scout are playing in the yard when it had just snowed in Alabama and they were making a snowman and Scout says, “’ Jem, [she hasn’t even] heard of a [black] snowman,’ [Scout] sa[ys]” (66). Scout says that she has never heard of a “black” snowman before and she says this innocently because she didn’t know the full meaning of the word. Another example of the n-word being used innocently is when Scout is talking to Atticus and asks; “’ Do[es Atticus] defend [black people] …. [that]s what everybody at school says’” (75). In this quote Scout shows she...